Retractable stanchion



March '31, 1964 s. E. BOCK 3,127,142

RETRACTABLE STANCHION Filed inch 10. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 31,1964 a. E. BOCK RETRACTABLE STANCHION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 10,1961 United States Patent M 3,127,142 RETRACTABLE STANCE-HON George E.Bock, Munster, Ind., assignor to Amsted Industries Incorporated,Chicago, 111., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Mar. 10, 1961, Ser. No.94,892 Claims. (Cl. 248-119) This invention relates to railway cars fortransporting vehicles and, more particularly, to means for detachablysecuring a trailer to a railway fiat car.

While various types of fastening means have heretofore been provided forsecuring trailers to railway fiat cars, some types of fastening meansare too expensive to manufacture and install on railway fiat cars, othertypes require the services of several men to secure a trailer to a flatcar, and some types are not provided with cushioning means to protect atrailer and its contents against impacts.

It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a railway flatcar with a trailer fastening means which is relatively simple inoperation, inexpensive in construction, and reliable in use.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of aretractable stanchion comprising a fifth wheel assembly mounted forpivotal movement on the upper end of a rigid triangular structure, saidassembly being pivoted from a substantially vertical plane toward asubstantially horizontal plane responsive to erection of the stanchionand engagement of the assembly with a trailer king pin.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of aretractable stanchion structure in which the energy of longitudinalimpacts is absorbed by a cushioning device to protect the trailer andany goods contained therein against damage in transit.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of aretractable stanchion adapted to occupy a minimum amount of space in itsretracted or collapsed position.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of aretractable stanchion comprising, in its erected position, a rigidtriangular structure slidably mounted on rails secured to a flat car andengaged by a cushioning device to effectively absorb the energy oflongitudinal impact forces during transport of a trailer.

The invention embodies other novel features, details of construction andarrangement of parts which are hereinafter set forth in thespecification and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,forming part thereof, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation illustrating a retractable stanchionembodying features of the invention, the stanchion being shown in itserected position;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation of same;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation showing the stanchion in its retractedposition;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the retracted stanchion; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary section illustrating the cushioning device.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of theinvention, the retractable stanchion is shown as comprising, in erectedposition, a rigid triangular structure indicated generally at 2. Thestructure 2 comprises a pair of vertical legs 3-3 interconnected attheir upper ends by a cross member 4 and interconnected at their lowerends by a shoe beam 6. The upper end of a diagonal leg 7 is pivotallyconnected at 8 to lugs 5 on cross beam 4. The lower end of the diagonalleg 7 is pivotally connected at 9 to a shoe 11 slidably mounted on acenter rail 12. A screw 13 is journaled at one end of shoe 11 in abearing block 14 for rotational and nonaxial move- 3,127,142 PatentedMar. 31, 1964 ment, the other end of the screw being in threadedengagement with a nut 16 secured on the shoe beam 6. A bevel gear 17 issecured on the end of the screw 13 for meshing engagement with a drivingbevel gear 18 secured on a shaft 19 journaled in the bearing block 14.

The shoe beam 6 is provided with shoes 20-20 which are pivotallyconnected at 21-21 to the lower end of the vertical members 3-3, theshoes being slidably mounted upon side rails 22-22. The center rail 12and the side rails 22-22 are adapted to be secured to the floor F of aconventional railway flat car by means of bolts or screws.

A fifth wheel assembly, indicated generally at 23, is pivotally mountedat 24-24 on the upper ends of supporting pins 26-26 slidably mounted inthe tubular vertical legs 3-3. Helical compression springs 27-27 aremounted Within their respective vertical legs 3-3 to yieldably resistdownward movement of the supporting pins 26-26 into the legs 3-3.

The fifth wheel assembly 23 comprises a top plate 28 formed with arecess 29 to receive the neck portion of a trailer king pin. Theassembly 23 is provided with a conventional lock mechanism 31 to engagethe trailer king pin against movement out of the recess or slot 29. Thelock mechanism 31 forms no part of the present invention and may be ofthe type shown and described in Patent No. 2,861,818, issued to Kayler,Kulieke, and Greenawalt, which patent is incorporated herein byreference.

One end of a chain 32 is connected at 33 to the slotted end of the fifthwheel assembly, the other end of the chain being connected at 34 to theshoe beam 6. When the stanchion is in its retracted position, the chain32 coacts with the springs 27-27 to hold the slotted end of the topplate 28 against the lugs 5, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. Duringerection of the stanchion, the slotted end of the plate 28 is held inengagement against the lugs 5 and substantially parallel to the diagonalleg 7.

Movement of the triangular structure 2 is yieldably resisted by acushioning device, indicated generally at 36. The cushioning device 36is shown as comprising a housing 37 adapted to be secured to the floorof a railway flat car by means of bolts or screws. A yoke 38 is securedto the shoe 11 by means of links 39-39 and a key 41. Wedge shaped frontand rear followers 42 and 43, respectively, are mounted within atransverse opening in the yoke and normally are engaged against stops 44and 46, respectively, provided on the housing 37. Side wedges 47-47 areinterposed between the followers 42 and 43, the followers beinginterconnected by a spring shaft 48 extending therethrough transverselyof the housing 37. End plates 49-49 are secured to opposite ends of thespring shaft 48 to form seats for the outer ends of helical compressionsprings 51-51, the springs 51 acting to yieldably resist movement of theside wedges 47-47 away from each other.

To detachably secure a highway trailer T to a railway flat car, thetriangular structure 2 provided to support the fifth wheel assembly 23is first disposed in its collapsed or retracted position as illustratedin FIGURE 3. A trailer is moved into position on the flat car above thestanchion and then disconnected from its tractor while the front end ofthe trailer is supported upon its landing gear. The stanchion is thenraised from its collapsed osition toward its erected position byrotating the driving shaft 19. It will be understood that either manualor power means can be provided to turn the shaft 19 to raise or lowerthe stanchion. During upward pivotal movement of the legs 3-3 the fifthwheel assembly 23 is maintained in a plane substantially parallel to theplane of the leg 7. When the upper end of the fifth wheel assemblyengages the bottom of the trailer body, the assembly is pivoted in acounterclockwise direction, as shown in FIGURE 1, and causes thesupporting pins 26-26 to move downwardly into the legs 3-3 and compressthe springs 27-27 therein. As the legs 3-3 approach their verticalposition the fifth wheel assembly 23 slides along the bottom side of thetrailer and moves into locking engagement with the king pin thereon.

During transportation of the trailer upon the flat car, longitudinalimpacts are transmitted from the triangular structure to the cushioningdevice 36 to cause one of the followers 42 or 43 to move the side wedges47-47 away from each other against the force exerted by the springs51-51.

When the fifth wheel assembly is coupled to the neck portion of thetrailer king pin, it will be noted that the chain 32 serves to securethe front end of the trailer against upward movement relative to thefloor F of the railway car.

I claim:

1. In a retractable stanchion, a pair of vertical legs, a cross beamconnecting the upper ends of said legs, a shoe beam, side shoes fixed onsaid shoe beam and pivotally connected to the lower ends of theirrespective vertical legs, side rails slidably engaging said shoes, adiagonal leg having an upper end pivotally connected to said cross beam,a center shoe pivotally connected to the lower end of said diagonal leg,a center rail slidably engaging said center shoe, a screwinterconnecting said center shoe and said shoe beam, and a fifth wheelassembly mounted on said vertical legs.

2. In a retractable stanchion, a pair of vertical legs, a cross beamconnecting the upper ends of said legs, a shoe beam, side shoes on saidshoe beam pivotally connected to the lower ends of their respectivevertical legs, side rails slidably engaging said shoes, a diagonal leghaving one end pivotally connected to said cross beam, a center shoepivotally connected to the other end of said diagonal leg, a center railslidably engaging said center shoe, a screw interconnecting said centershoe and said shoe beam, a fifth wheel assembly mounted on said verticallegs, and a friction cushioning device secured to said center shoe toyieldably resist movement of said stanchion along said rails.

3. In a retractable stanchion, a pair of vertical legs, a cross beamconnecting the upper ends of said legs, a shoe beam, side shoes on saidshoe beam pivotally connected to the lower ends of their respectivevertical legs, side rails slidably engaging said shoes, a diagonal leghaving one end pivotally connected to said cross beam, a center shoepivotally connected to the other end of said diagonal leg, a center railslidably engaging said center shoe, a screw interconnecting said centershoe and said shoe beam, a fifth wheel assembly, and means on saidvertical legs to support said assembly for vertical and pivotalmovement.

4. In a retractable stanchion, a pair of vertical legs, a cross beamconnecting the upper ends of said legs, a shoe beam, side shoes on saidshoe beam pivotally connected to the lower ends of their respectivevertical legs, side rails slidably engaging said shoes, a diagonal leghaving one end pivotally connected to said cross beam, at center shoepivotally connected to the other end of said diagonal leg, a center railslidably engaging said center shoe, a screw interconnecting said centershoe and said shoe beam, a fifth wheel assembly, means on said verticallegs to support said assembly for vertical and pivotal movement, andresilient means interposed between said assembly support means and saidvertical legs.

5. In a retractable stanchion, a pair of vertical legs, a cross beamconnecting the upper ends of said legs, a shoe beam, side shoes on saidshoe beam pivotally connected to the lower ends of their respectivevertical legs, side rails slidably engaging said shoes, a diagonal leghaving one end pivotally connected to said cross beam, a center shoepivotally connected to the other end of said diagonal leg, a center railslidably engaging said center shoe, a screw interconnecting said centershoe and said shoe beam, a fifth wheel assembly, means on said verticallegs to support said assembly for vertical and pivotal movement,resilient means interposed between said assembly support means and saidvertical legs, and a chain interconnecting said assembly and said shoebeam.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,936,983 Markestein May 17, 1960 2,967,492 Keener Jan. 10, 19612,971,478 Dilworth Feb. 14, 1961 3,041,028 McDowell June 26, 1962FOREIGN PATENTS 830,410 Great Britain Mar. 16, 1960

1. IN A RETRACTABLE STANCHION, A PAIR OF VERTICAL LEGS, A CROSS BEAMCONNECTING THE UPPER ENDS OF SAID LEGS, A SHOE BEAM, SIDE SHOES FIXED ONSAID SHOE BEAM AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE LOWER ENDS OF THEIRRESPECTIVE VERTICAL LEGS, SIDE RAILS SLIDABLY ENGAGING SAID SHOES, ADIAGONAL LEG HAVING AN UPPER END PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID CROSS BEAM,A CENTER SHOE PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE LOWER END OF SAID DIAGONAL LEG,A CENTER RAIL SLIDABLY ENGAGING SAID